Page 25 - United States of Pie

You may read in food magazines or in other cookbooks that in
order to make the perfect piecrust you have to roll out your dough on
a marble surface, or that you need a silicone rolling pin, or that only

a certain type of flour will do for dusting your work surface. To me,
this is persnickety. I am here to tell you just the opposite. I have
made pie in a two-foot-square kitchen in New York City. I have seen
dough rolled out with an empty wine bottle. I have rolled out dough in
the middle of a freezing cold winter and in the sweltering days of
summer. Sure, some of my pies have turned out better than others,
but each pie has been delicious in its own right. What type of rolling
pin you use is a matter of your preference.

Rolling out dough is a matter of confidence. You have to show that
round who’s boss. You are the creator—go ahead and play God.
Dough is not delicate. It needs to be beaten. Once you have
adequately floured your work surface, place the disk of dough on it.
Flour the dough. Voilà, you’re ready to begin. The following tips

should make the process easier.

The step before rolling is beating. With the flour-dusted disk
of dough before you, use the rolling pin to beat the dough
along both its horizontal and vertical axes. This makes the
dough more malleable for the rolling process. Don’t be
scared—let the dough have it! This step will also spread the
dough out. Just make sure to do the beating fairly evenly. You
do not want a severely misshapen round of dough.

Next, make sure your rolling pin is adequately floured, and
then begin to roll from the center of the dough outward.
Whatever movement is done on one side of the dough should
also be done on the other. Use short, quick motions, picking
up the rolling pin before you reach the edge of the dough.
This will prevent the edges from getting too thin.

As you roll, pick the dough up often. This prevents sticking. It

also allows you to dust the work surface with additional flour
if needed. Just think how horrible it would be to roll out a
round of dough only to have it stick to the counter and tear.